Steenhuisen on the DA’s Formal GNU Dispute Over Expropriation Bill and NHI

Dear Editor

Seven months ago, South Africans were imbued with a sense of hope when the African National Congress and the Democratic Alliance signed a Statement of Intent, heralding a new era of power-sharing in South Africa.
The Statement of Intent was the basis upon which the Democratic Alliance agreed to vote President Cyril Ramaphosa into office on 14 June 2024.

It was also the basis upon which we joined national government, in order to keep the destructive forces of MK and EFF out, and contribute to building South Africa.

This came after the people of South Africa voiced their dismay with the ANC over chronic service delivery failures and corruption, by depriving that party of its majority for the first time in thirty years.

Through their vote, the people signalled that they want parties to work together to build South Africa.

This is a point worth emphasising.

The Government of National Unity is not a project of politicians.

It gives expression to the will of the people, who clearly said they want parties to genuinely work together, in a spirit of mutual respect, to build South Africa.

The DA continues to uphold our end of the bargain.

Portfolios under DA control have done more to deliver progress in the past seven months than the ANC did in thirty years.

Every day, DA Ministers, Deputy Ministers, house chairpersons and portfolio committee chairs get out of bed to build South Africa up after decades of misrule and corruption broke it down.

That is what we are in government for, and that is what we are delivering.

Precisely because we have heard the cry of the people for constructive cooperation, the DA also treats our colleagues from other parties in the GNU with respect, making constructive suggestions aimed at resolving disagreements rather than inflaming them.

As a result, the first green shoots have started appearing in the economy and in employment statistics.

The Rand strengthened and international analysts hailed the formation of the GNU as South Africa’s most significant political development since 1994.

The recent World Economics Forum in Davos reflected this positive attitude of the world towards this significant political development.

Every day since June 14 last year, the Democratic Alliance has made a concerted effort to ensure the success of the GNU.

We have negotiated and compromised where needed because, as veterans of coalition politics, we understand that if you don’t get over 50 percent of the vote, you cannot have everything your own way.

At the same time, we made it clear from the start that we were in the GNU to share power, not merely to “make up the numbers” for the ANC to continue rolling out its policies.

Any coalition agreement is premised on the acknowledgement that the larger party should be prepared to negotiate and compromise when required – because all parties in the GNU, including the ANC, only represent the interests of a minority.

However, after a promising start whereby President Ramaphosa delayed the implementation of the Basic Education Laws Amendment Act to enable negotiations, recent weeks have made it increasingly clear that the ANC has lost interest in honouring its side of the relationship.

Unfortunately, the ANC in the GNU has taken to openly disrespecting partners and undermining the trust upon which any coalition government is built.

In his statement at the ANC’s January 8 anniversary, President Ramaphosa was quoted as saying that although the ANC failed to secure 50 percent plus one in the elections “the ANC is still in charge.”

Just today, President Ramaphosa opened the ANC lekgotla saying that the GNU exits to implement the NDR.

Not only is such a statement immature, but it does not accord with either the letter or the spirit of the Statement of Intent.

Unfortunately, it does accord with how the ANC is behaving.

In recent days, the President not only disregarded the serious constitutional objections raised by Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Dean MacPherson over the Expropriation Bill, but he failed to even inform the Minister about when he intended to sign the bill into force.

Similarly, a few weeks ago, I personally wrote to the President about the contentious National Health Insurance Act.

I made a number of constructive proposals for consideration, and asked for a meeting to engage further ahead of the upcoming Cabinet Lekgotla to prevent a repeat of the events from the previous Lekgotla when the DA vehemently objected to the inclusion of NHI targets.

Amazingly, the President refused to even meet with the Leader of his biggest coalition partner to discuss NHI – the single most critical issue for the future of the GNU, and for the future of South Africa.

Instead of engaging respectfully and maturely to find solutions, the ANC Minister of Health, Aaron Motsoaledi, declared war on the GNU in front of the world at Davos.

Motsoaledi told world leaders assembled at the World Economic Forum that he is fighting a “war” against the people of South Africa who don’t want their private medical aids expropriated, who don’t want higher taxes to fund a new looting scheme, and who don’t want our health system destroyed.

This is not how mature colleagues behave.

It is arrogant and disrespectful. It is a symptom of a lack of respect accorded to coalition partners and the founding agrement.

And it is not how healthy coalitions work.

Whether the ANC likes it or not, the stability of this government as well as the security of the President’s own position, depends entirely on the relationship between the two biggest partners inside the GNU.

In keeping with our mature approach to coalition government, the Democratic Alliance will therefore urgently pursue a reset in this relationship.

To do so, I yesterday wrote to President Ramaphosa to:

Object in the strongest terms to the fact that he signed the Expropriation Act this week in contravention of a clear legal opinion, submitted by Minister Macpherson, that the Act is unconstitutional;
Note the DA’s implacable opposition to the inclusion of the NHI in the Medium-Term Development Plan, with the accompanying budgetary implications; and
Record the failure to set up effective dispute resolution mechanisms, and the abuse of the Clearing House Mechanism.

Most importantly, I notified the President that I was formally invoking Section 19 of the Statement of Intent.

Clause 19 codifies the procedure to be followed when differences on issues arise between parties to the GNU.

Clause 19.3 states that, “Sufficient consensus exists when parties to the GNU representing 60% of seats in the National Assembly agree…”

The only parties in the GNU that together represent 60% of seats in the GNU, are the ANC and the DA.

In the event of a lack of sufficient consensus, the Statement of Intent, in clause 20, continues: “The Parties to the GNU shall also establish dispute resolution or deadlock breaking mechanisms, in instances where sufficient consensus is not reached.”

The President needs to accept that his party is now just another minority party, and that the DA are partners in the GNU.

We won over 3.5 million votes and we are in the government to represent our voters and to rescue South Africa.

If we cannot fulfil this mandate inside the GNU, we will have to seriously consider our next steps.

The DA will not, under any circumstances, be reduced to being mere spectators.

I want the people of South Africa to know that the DA does not take this step lightly.

The seriousness of this situation demands that we engage other parties in the GNU too, such as the IFP who have publicly come out against the Expropriation Act too.

We are invoking clause 19 in pursuit of an urgent reset in relations, because South Africa deserves a functioning coalition, where partners treat each other with respect in pursuit of solutions to our country’s many pressing problems. The solutions must work to undo the failed policies of the past thirty years.

Under the GNU, it is time for new policies.

Regards

John Steenhuisen MP
Leader of the Democratic Alliance